Sunday, September 23, 2012

Edwin P. Wilson, a man who was born into a Nampa farming family and grew to become one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency—spending 22 years behind bars—has died at the age of 84.

Wilson died Sept. 10 in Seattle from complications from a heart valve replacement surgery, Craig Emmick, a director at Columbia Funeral Home in Seattle, told the Associated Press.

Wilson owned homes around the world, including a 2,338-acre estate in Northern Virginia. He set up shell companies abroad for the CIA and was convicted in 1983 for shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya. At his trial, he told the court that he shipped the weapons with the CIA's approval to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government.